The thirty fourth twitter interview was given by Mr. Arvind Passey on 19 th January 2012.

 

Introduction:

 

Currently he is working as a Brand Ambassador at Samsung India.

 

Past Experiences: 

• Corporate Communications at BLB Limited
• Corporate Communications at BIFM
• Corporate Communications at PT Education
• Sales at German Remedies Ltd

 

Q1: If you were written about in the newspaper, on the front page, what would the headline say?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - The 50-something who isn't afraid of competing with 20-somethings! 

 Other headlines: 'The Samsung Brand Ambassador who writes poetry too!'

  'Communication is what keeps Arvind Passey alive.' 

 

Q2: If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. With whom would it be?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - Sunny Leone... because I'd want to know what it is that excites women. Information would help me write better. 

Second, Bill Gates... subliminal ramifications of tech fascinates me & I'd want to write all about them in an easy language. 

Third, Pablo Neruda... because this is the only way I can let a bit of his genius influence my writing genes! 

 

Q3: Which books have influenced your life most?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - 1. Books... The old man & the sea - Ernest Hemingway (http://passey.info/2010/11/i-went-out-too-far/) Read it many times. Listened to audio book too. 

2.Dictionaries... all sizes, including the one that is match-box sized. They taught me to love words better than teachers.

3.Meri Shresta Kavitain - Harivansh Rai Bachhan. Remember lines from his poems still... taught me how to play with words.

Have more than 5000 books in my personal library at home... doesn't include ebooks and those on Kindle! :) 

 

Q4: Has "Living the Game" taken over your personal life? How do you strike a balance?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - Playing with words is the game I love and live and breathe and fight with and have fun with. Words playfully gambol in my personal space. Words dictate in my official time. Words travel with me. Words are what I gift to others and accept from others. Communication (or, as I say, come-for-unification) keeps me alive & balanced. The GAME, in a way, is a way of life for me as it is for all, I presume. :)  

 

Q5: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - None. Every writer has his/ her own defined writing style and these different strokes help another writer. Read all - learn better is what I'd say. Anyway, you must be dedicated enough to develop your own voice.  More than being influenced by any writer, I'd want to be under the spell of targeted writing ie, a daily dose of writing. 

 

Q6: Tell us about a time when you were able to step into a situation, take charge, muster support and achieve good results?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - Situation: A confused marketing team, an angry CEO, pleased competitors. Wanted: Ad campaign that sold & built loyalty. As the corporate communications head, I revamped the crumbling & directionless ads as well as the design team + made sure that the marketing team WENT OUT of the office and not just be content to pretend to do phone selling! Got the best media deals from publications and the organisation slowly got up to walk again. Sounds complex but all I did was to bring in a disciplined approach to creative thought, give a profitable perspective to jobs, and  restrained the CEO from antagonising creative impulses, ideas, and thoughts. Thats it. 

 

Q7: What quality you admire in co-workers?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] -

1.1 JOSH. The 'kar ke dikhayenge' approach to situations.

2.2. HOSH. The sit-down-calmly & discover the best alternativeS (capital S) & then choose a perceptive course of action. 

3.3. Humility. We all go UP & then DOWN in our thoughts, conclusions, and results.. so no arrogance after successful moments. 

4.4. Team-work. Nothing happens without a cohesive and participative togetherness. 

 

Q8: How do you stay current?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - Of-course, things like 'an urge to explore and find new things', 'a comfortable sense of humour', & a ready smile too.  I remain active on the social networking sites,never refuse offers of virtual friendship,scan forms of expressions and adapt them into my vocabulary.Read extensively and without defined boundaries, interact with all age-groups  and finally, put all this aside before my daily plunge into the fathomless world of imaginaton! 

 

Q9: If you could take back one career decision, what would it be?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] - I'd certainly have loved to reverse all wrong decisions that made me leave the Indian Army early. Needed MORE of that spirit of adventure. Needed MORE of the disciplined approach that one learns there. I wish the youth today all of that .

 I'd have loved to jump straight from the OGs (Olive Greens) to a life of dedicated writing... however, I love the way things happened. 

 

Q10: How would you describe a perfect job?

 

[  Arvind Passey ] -  A 'perfect job' for me is a CLUB... Can't Love Unless Besot.. (Besot here means you are intoxicated with the work offered.) Thus there is no perfect job unless it is YOU who fall deeply in love with it... do that and stay married forever! :) Until, of course, you decide to fall in love again!! OR, decide to create your own Pygmalion, so to say. (Pygmalion is a play by G B Shaw... where a phonetics expert converts Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl, into a socialite & falls in love with her.)

A lot of us do the 'pygmalion' in our lives... for instance, Arun Shourie jumped from economics to journalism. 

Make your rules & don't be afraid to change them. As a tweet that I read, said: Saddey Apney Rule, Saddey Apney Asool ;) 

 

 

 

Last Updated on: 08/02/2012